Who is Gianna Jessen?

Gianna Jessen...Who Is She?

Who Is Gianna Jessen? Posted May 08, 2009 at 23:34 PM ronlargent Thursday night we were privileged to hear Gianna Jessen speak at the CareNet Pregnancy Banquet....what a great job she did. Here is a little bit on "who she is....: Gianna Jessen does not quit. Giving up is not an option to her. Gianna has what she refers to as the "gift" of Cerebral Palsy. She weighed a mere 2 lbs at birth and the doctors said she would never be able to hold up her head, sit up, crawl or walk. She began to walk by the age of three years old with the help of leg braces and a walker. Gianna doesn’t believe that her Cerebral Palsy takes away her life, but, rather, enriches it. . . she walks with a slight limp today and runs marathons. On April 30, 2005 she completed her first 26.2 mile marathon after running just over 7 hours and was presented with the coveted blank blank award! On April 23, 2006 she completed the London Marathon as well. She is now determined to run marathons all over the place, because she was never supposed to even walk! Gianna understands the plight of orphans, being one herself. She was placed into the foster care system early on in life, eventually being taken into the loving home of a woman named Penny. Penny has been a mother to 56 foster children in her life. Gianna was later adopted by Penny's daughter, making Penny Gianna's grandmother. According to Gianna, Penny saved her life. Gianna is a Christian. Her life was given to her by the grace of God. She shouldn't be walking, but more miraculous still; she should not even be alive. Gianna's biological mother was 17 when she had a saline abortion in her third trimester. Many Americans don’t realize it is legal to have an abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. After being burned alive for approximately 18 hours in the womb from the saline solution, Gianna was delivered alive in a Los Angeles County abortion clinic. Her medical records state, "born during saline abortion"...this is what caused her Cerebral Palsy. Gianna's travels and experiences have led her all over the world. Her life has been covered by many major news media outlets, including, most recently, the BBC News and World Radio, Sky News, and The Good Morning Show in England, reaching many people with a message of hope and conviction. In November 2005, Gianna spoke in several colleges all over Ireland and in December of the same year, spoke at a meeting held at the House of Commons in London. She has returned to England this year to speak in several parochial and public high schools. Gianna’s audiences include: churches - church youth crusades and women’s ministry retreats; various corporations as a motivational speaker; secular and Christian youth organizations and schools – middle school age through college, as well as several times before Congress - most recently having her testimony read before the Supreme Court in Carhart v. Gonzales

Real Estate in Redding www.ronlargent.com ronlargent@kw.com

Real Estate Training....Essential

Training…from cradle to grave!

“If only they were trained, they could be real good agents”. How many times have your heard this exclamation, either from managers, brokers, or other agents? And, it is probably a true statement, for with the increasing number of licensees in the state, with the good market conditions, very few agents are being given the time, nor, in many instances, are interested, in really going through the training necessary to be what many consider “a good agent”.

In a recent week, I had four contracts or escrows brought to my attention by our agents that all involved other agents not being trained in the day to day procedures and process that is the reality of our business. The intentions of all were certainly good, but what these agents needed to learn to pass the state exam, or even learned after getting in the business, did not really apply to any of these instances. There was, however, one common issue to all four transactions, disclosure, and this aspect of our business is commonly discussed, but not fully trained and understood by new agents, and even some experienced agents. And, in some cases, not all brokers will subscribe to a regular training and teaching time, for it is not “their thing”. This is understandable, but not acceptable, at least to me.

Depending on how you view the business, and the various “paperwork” requirements, California, and the DRE, is either a good place to be in real estate or not such a good place. And yes, we do have more “paperwork” than many states, but we also do more business than about 48 other states. And, we do need to have good guidelines and procedures. We also need to be kept very current in all of the rulings and legal interpretations that come our way, for these, for the most part, are designed to protect our buyers and sellers, as well as us. One way to protect all is full disclosure, and this is a subject that cannot be treated lightly, or trained with anything less than 100% participation and understanding on the part of all agents. In fact, in California, this should be part of our “cradle to grave” training, for the laws and procedures are changing from year to year, and every agent should take advantage of the various classes and seminars available to be sure you are in “on the latest” when it comes to disclosure.

Another unique aspect of our business is our Purchase Contract. What use to be an informal 1 or 2 page document is now a 10 page legally binding contract. Agents may not read each paragraph word for word, but they should know the meaning and essence of every paragraph. And, this will only happen if there is training, and again, this is “cradle to grave” training, for regardless of where an agent is in terms of experience and time in the business, our contracts are frequently being changed, added to, or interpreted differently than previously, and we, as professionals, must be up on each change in the contract. This can be done by Association seminars, classroom instruction, or in the day to day training situation between manager and agent. But, it must be done, for this is a big and very important part of “being an agent”.

“I’m too old for training” is heard from time to time from the experienced and older agents, and nothing could be further from the truth. We never stop learning, and regardless of your office situation, training on the above, along with a number of other subjects, should be part of your monthly schedule. Take it upon yourself to take advantage of all of the training that is offered, for in our business, and like our business, it starts with the “cradle” and ends with the “grave”. See you at the next Board Training Seminar!

Rick Warren's Newlsetter

This came to me from my friend Bud Hancock, and he got it from Rick Warren’s e-mail newsletter, which is, if you do not get it, very good.

Enjoy this from Rick:

WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?

“The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, “If I go outside, I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!”" Proverbs 22:13, NLT

It’s rare to find people today who are willing to take complete responsibility for their actions. In the victimization that’s present in our culture, our problems are always someone else’s fault.

You can blame whoever you want — the government, your parents, the school you went to, television, your boss, or the rest of society. There’s no need for you to feel bad; anywhere you look there are people to blame.

Sometimes our excuses are quite humorous. Consider these actual statements given to insurance companies by people involved in car accidents:

“In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole!”

“Coming home, I drove into the wrong driveway and hit a tree I don’t have.”

“The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”

“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.”

“I was on the way to the doctor’s office with rear-end trouble when my universal joint gave way, causing me to having an accident.”

“I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.”

“The telephone poll was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end.”

“The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him!”

Silly? Yes. But so are some of the excuses we offer, instead of taking responsibility for our mistakes, failures, and sins.

The Bible says, “The lazy person is full of excuses” (Proverbs 22:13, NLT).

Ben Franklin once observed, “The person who is good at excuse-making is seldom good at anything else.”

Question: What excuses can you remember yourself using in the past week? Are they valid, or merely excuses? And even if valid, should these things be enough to keep you from living out your faith in the world?

About this Author: Rick Warren

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Will mortgages ever be the same?

Posted December 25, 2008 at 13:51 PM
ronlargent
Will the lessons learned from the real estate slowdown spark genuine creativity in marketing and lending to push more sales?
What are the chances that the residential mortgages bought and sold in the secondary markets will revert to the conservative portfolio business that existed before the first securitizations in the early 1980s?
The real estate industry will recover, but it will be different.
Tom Kelly at Inman News has some thoughts on this....and what are yours?
From my viewpoint, I think we will continue to see a continuing interest on the part of lenders in making good loans, but they will be to those that are qualified, using some old measurements. Not too many years ago, the yardstick was that your mortgage payment should not exceed 25% of your gross income. If you made $1000 a month, your mortgage payment could not exceed $250, for example. Over the recentl years, this went to as high as 50% with some lenders...and this was the beginning of the end. Then, lenders started including the 2nd income in the family as a permanet source of income and that was considered in the payment amount. All was good and fine as long as that 2nd income was there. Things changed, though, when the 2nd earner had other things enter in, such a another child, unexpected illness, or college expenses that were not expected. All of a sudden, the 2 family income became 1, and a problem was on the horizon.
So, we will be back to good financing in the future, but for the next few years, the guidelines will be more conservative than in the past 5 years. Now is the time to refinance, if you can....for interest rates are at an all time low.
To discuss this further, give me a call or e-mail ronlargent@kw.com or www.ronlargent.com

Oregon's Bottle Bill

Oregon's Bottle Bill....

Posted December 24, 2008 at 19:48 PM

ronlargent

Water Bottles to Soon Join Bottle Bill

If you live in Oregon, you’re probably familiar with idea of shelling out a nickel deposit on a can of soda or a bottle of beer. Starting Jan. 1, you’ll pay those five extra cents every time you buy a bottle of water, too. It’s the first major change to Oregon’s bottle bill in more than three decades.Only in OREGON.

By the way, life in Redding, CA is GREAT !!

Check it out at www.ronlargent.com go to Redding, Our Community.

Jazz in Sacramento California

Jazz in Sacramento, CA

Posted December 17, 2008 at 09:28 AM

ronlargent

Good morning everyone,

The year is fast coming to a close and the Thursday evening jazz with Vivian Lee and Friends is ending it's first five months. Before we talk about the big party though we get to talk about a lady who lit up the stage last week. Virginia Ayers Dawson is no stranger to the stage and mic, having done back-up work in Los Angelos in the past. With a room overflowing with family, friends and jazz fans, she sashayed back and forth across the stage, interacting with both the audience and the musicians with ease. Her rich voice and phrasing making each song a story, not just words. Not sticking to the American Songbook she brought some great tunes to life in a jazz vein - Natural Woman, done almost in a conversational tone, Burt Bacharach's What the World Needs Now, and Joe Cocker's signature tune You are So Beautiful. Pianist Reggie Graham joined her and did a funk grooved arrangement of My Funny Valentine. The joy in watching and listening to Virginia is that she is such a free spirit and and it shows when she is on stage. She tells little stories about her many mission trips and intertwines those experiences into her introduction and delivery of the songs. That is the sign of an artist, taking life and making it a part of the music. It adds a new dimension to the lyrics when you can make it personal.

This week, December 18 is our big Holiday blow-out party. Most of the vocalists who have joined me for Vivian Lee and Friends will be there with their favorite Christmas and holiday songs along with other songs in our combined expansive repertoire of vocal jazz. The Sacramento Food Bank will also be there collecting donations and the admission for this special evening is one canned good or other non perishable food item. The evening is from 7-11pm. They have a full dinner menu, drinks, desserts and of course - the music. So join us as we celebrate the holidays and also give something back to the Sacramento community to help those in need. JB's is located inside of the Red Lion Hotel 1401 Arden Way.

Cascade Theater...A Christmas Show revue

Cascade Needs Money.....Certainly Not Due to “A Cascade Christmas”

This past weekend I had the good fortune and great pleasure to attend the wonderful Christmas show at the Cascade, "A Cascade Christmas". Having been in the music field as an avocation for 50 years, I can report that this was one of the best "off Broadway" musicals I have ever seen. What James Santos and the Redding Dance Project does each Christmas is truly magnificent. This show could easily be a Branson headliner or a lead in for any of the Las Vegas shows. This musical dance program with gorgeous and appropriate costuming features talent that is not only professional in their performance but is so impressive in terms of how it is presented with "Broadway" quality sets and settings.

The dancers and singers, all of them local talent folks, work for months to make this one of the best shows in the entire North State, and it shows. From the opening City Scene with the women's cast performing over head kicks and ballet type moves to the full cast Carol of the Bells in full and elaborate costumes, the show moved through beautiful renditions of the familiar Christmas songs (The Christmas Song)to excellent solo and small group renditions of Santa music. With the children, many from local dance schools and dance programs, bringing a new and refreshing excitement to the overall program, this was just a delightful evening of wonderful entertainment. The final numbers feature the Dance of the Wooden Soldiers, and this is perfection at its best. The timing and precision needed in this very difficult presentation caused the full house audience to rise in applause in appreciation of what they had just seen. The final Nativity scene was, as always, very well done and a very fitting evening to this Christmas tradition.

If you did not have a chance to join the 9000 folks that were able to see the 2008 presentation, put it on your schedule for next year. James and the Project will be back and I'm sure it will be as good as this year. This is one Redding activity that one cannot miss. It is truly a wonderful show in the beautiful Cascade Theater setting, where there is not a bad seat. See you at the show